Srila Prabhupada - Vedic Teachings

  „Everything is there in the śāstra. Ācārya does not invent anything. That is not ācārya. Ācārya simply points out, "Here is the thing." Just like in the darkness of night we cannot see anything perfectly or cannot see anything, but the, when there is sunrise, the sunrise, effect of sunrise is that we can see things as they are. The things are not manufactured. There is already... The things are al... The houses, the town and the everything is there, but when there is sunrise we can see everything nicely. Similarly, ācārya, or incarnation, they do not create anything. They simply give the light to see things as they are. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu pointed out this verse from Bṛhad-nāradīya Purāṇa. The, the verse was already in the Bṛhad-nāradīya Purāṇa. harer nāma harer nāma harer nāma iva kevalaṁ kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā [Cc. Ādi 17.21] This verse was already there in the Bṛhad-nāradīya Purāṇa, the indication of our activities in the age of Kali

  „They are mahājanas. So we have to follow Prahlāda Mahārāja. He is our guru, pūrva-ācārya. Nārada is pūrva-ācārya. He is disciple of Nārada. Therefore he is ācārya, and his disciplic succession... There are sampradāyas: Brahma-sampradāya, Kaumāra-sampradāya... Anyone who is bona fide ācārya, he can create his own disciplic succession, but one disciplic succession and the other disciplic—they are not different. They are of the same conclusion. The Vaiṣṇava ācāryas, just like our Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, and Nimbārka, and who that? Rudra-sampradāya? Viṣṇu Svāmī. They are all of the same movement. Ārādhyo-bhagavān vrajeśa-tanayaḥ, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam [SB 1.3.28]. That is their conclusion. There is no different conclusion. Although they have got varieties of methods—śuddhādvaita, dvaitādvaita, vaśiṣṭādvaita, like that—they present the same philosophy in clear way. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu presented the same philosophy, that acintya-bhedābheda. That is ācārya. Ācārya gives some wa

  "So  Prahlāda   Mahārāja , a great devotee, he's in the line of disciplic succession. He's considered one of the great  ācāryas.  An authority,  ācārya .  And who is  ācārya ? Ācārya  means one who knows the intricacies of Vedic knowledge and he personally behaves in terms of that knowledge and teaches his disciple in terms of that knowledge.  Ācārya  means the person whose behavior is to be followed. Not that as we follow somebody according to our taste. Not like that. That  ācārya   comes in the standard disciplic succession. So  ācārya .  So this  Prahlāda   Mahārāja , we are discussing the instruction of  Prahlāda   Mahārāja  because he happens to be one of the stalwart  ācāryas.  And the names of such  ācāryas,  authorized  ācāryas,  are also mentioned in the  Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam ." (Lectures - Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.6.1 — New York, April 9, 1969)

  "Cleanliness is essential for making advancement in spiritual life. There are two kinds of cleanliness: external and internal. External cleanliness means taking a bath, but for internal cleanliness one has to think of Kṛṣṇa always and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. This process cleans the accumulated dust of past karma from the mind." (BG 13.8-12, Purport) "But as the days of this Kali-yuga will make progress, this system of hygienic cleanliness, cleanliness both inside and outside Outside by taking bath, inside by becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious—two kinds of cleanliness. Simply if we take bath with soap outside, and inside all rubbish things, that is not cleanliness. Cleanliness means bahyābhyantaraḥ. Bahya means outside, without. Abhyantara means inside. Unless we are clean, unless we are pure, how we can make advance to approach the Supreme? The Supreme is described as the purest. In the Bhagavad-gītā Arjun

  „ As the śāstra gives regulative, we have to accept that. And if we do not accept that, yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya vartate kāma-kārataḥ [Bg. 16.23], if we do whimsically, then na siddhiṁ sāvāpnoti, you cannot get any perfection of life, na sukham, neither you'll be happy. So it is the injunction of the śāstra, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu also inaugurated this Hare Kṛṣṇa movement for the benefit of the whole world. And it is being accepted practically. So this is the only way to save us from all kinds of difficulties, upadrava. Upadrutāḥ. Mandāḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhāgyā hy upadrutāḥ (SB 1.1.10). There will be upadruta, so many times. So we should accept, mataṁ ca vāsudevasya. We should accept the instruction given by Vāsudeva and the śāstra, sādhu. Sādhu, śāstra, guru, they'll speak the same thing. Guru means who speaks on the basis of śāstra; otherwise he's not guru. And śāstra means the opinion of the great authorities. Just like Vyāsadeva, Parāśara Muni, Nārada Muni, mode

- This is an important article to understand this issue regardless of whether one likes or dislikes the writer. -  The  Sastric  Basis for Srila Prabhupada's  Continued  Diksa  Status by  Krishnakant In this paper we shall look closely at a number of objections raised against Srila Prabhupada remaining the  diksa  guru for ISKCON in relation to the eternal principles of guru,  sadhu  and  sastra . We shall show that the continuance of Srila Prabhupada as the  diksa  guru for ISKCON is in total harmony with these principles, and that specifically with regards Srila Prabhupada's books, it is an unavoidable natural consequence of our theology. We shall demonstrate that Srila Prabhupada's position as the  diksa  guru for ISKCON cannot but prevail if our preaching is properly in line with Srila Prabhupada's teachings. 'Guru,  Sadhu  and  Sastra ' One common objection to keeping Srila Prabhupada as ISKCON's  diksa  guru, through the use of representatives as outli